Spoiler Alert is our newest series at Skull Church. We are going through the book of Ecclesiastes where Solomon ruins the ending for anyone who would try to live their life for anything but God. I LOVE the work the creative dept did on this series!
Planting a church is kind of like fighting your way through a jungle, attempting to forge a path. You are so focused on the vines and creepers right in front of you, remaining to be cut, that you can’t focus on how far you have already gone. What is behind you doesn’t matter. For all practical purposes, you start over with every swing.
We have been working on this stretch of jungle for three and a half years now and though we have seen God do incredible things, we are still swinging like we just began. I never want that to stop. I hope and pray that no matter how long God tarries that we will still think and work with the fresh intensity and raw zeal of a start-up work. We are still planting this church and always will be.
The moment you begin to sit around talking about how far you have come and maintaining the status quo, not only do you stop moving forward but the jungle actually begins to close in on you. You have to fight to maintain the hunger and drive that comes from just starting out. There is a slowness and a deadness that comes from thinking like an institution. No matter how long you have been at it, grab your machete and start hacking like you just started!
A text-msg question about getting high that I answered @ Skull Church.
Fresh Life Church is around 1,400 hours into our goal of giving the Flathead Valley 3,000 hours of community service this summer in an initiative that is attached to our study of the book of Nehemiah. We have teams, decked out in red Rock this City shirts, all over the place doing things like: picking up trash, cleaning mountain bike trails, giving blood, and making meals for homeless people. It has been awesome seeing the church rally to the vision and rise up to make Jesus famous by serving in these very practical ways.
When I met with the mayor of Kalispell, before this project began, and asked how she would have us spend the 3,000 hours one of the immediate things she asked for us to focus on was graffiti removal. As a result that has been an area that we have thrown a lot of energy at. We have prayed that people would see our “good works and give glory to our Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16) But this past week one of our teams, that was serving in this way, attracted the wrong kind of attention. One of the local newspapers runs a section, called the Law Roundup, where they report all police activity from the day before. (One of the quirky things about living in a small town) It is usually pretty humorous to read. Here is what was written about the RTC team:
You can learn more about Rock this City, watch videos where you can meet some of the RTC stars and even participate and log your hours (no matter where you live) here.
Early this morning, Jennie and I received a wonderful gift from the Lord and her name is Daisy Grace! Weighing in at 8 lbs 7 oz, she arrived at 4:41 this morning. She is healthy, awesome and, like her sisters, she waited until I was done preaching for the weekend to show up! Thank you in advance for your prayers, praising God for a safe arrival, for her and Jennie! (more…)